Package for ice cream cones



Aug. 10, 1937.

F. w. TURNBULL 2,089,674

PACKAGE FOR ICE CREAM GONES Filed Feb. '7, 1955 e i .2. Illllllllllllllllilljl'lll IIlIlI-g INVENTOR E W Turnbull Patented Aug. 10, .1937

PACKAGE FOR ICE CREAM CONES Francis W. Turnbull, Chattanooga, Tenn., assignor to Turnbull Cone & Machine Company,

Chattanooga, Tenn.,

lleSSee a corporation of Ten- Application February 7, 1935, Serial No. 5,374

3 Claims.

My invention relates to an impr oved package for ice cream cones and other cup pastry.

One of the greatest problems in the ice cream cone industry is to prevent breakage of the cones during shipment and handling without unduly increasing the cost of material and labor in packaging.

Heretofore, ice cream cones have quite generally been packed in cardboard boxes holding one hundred cones each, the cones being arranged in ten sticks or stacks of ten each in each box. Ten of these boxes are then packed in one corrugated shipping container. The cones in the boxes are either packed in cross-plates or in square tubes for each ten cones. But these styles of packages are not only expensive but also fail to fully protect the cones against breakage unless the boxes and cases are made of very strong material. Furthermore, when cones are packed in this manner, the weight of all the cones in a stick is supported on the tip or point of the lowest cone which is almost invariably broken or worn through due to the constant jar or vibration during transit. By the present invention, I provide a package and method of packing ice cream cones that not only is cheaper than the packages used heretofore but also entirely eliminates breakage of the cones and Wearing through of the points by resiliently supporting all cones in a stick. In one form of the invention, each stick of cones, which may consist of twenty-live or more cones nested together, is closely embraced by a resilient wrapping which engages the cones at their largest diameter with sufcient pressure or friction to sustain the weight of the cones, so that the top cones are not supported by the lower ones. These packages, each containing a stick of nested cones of say 10 to 25 or more, I then place in a shipping container which may be a metal can, fibre box, or made of any suitable shape, size and material. Preferably, I place twenty-ve cones in each package and forty packages in each metal container. Each container has a tight fitting cover and side handles so that it serves many useful purposes after the cones have been consumed. The metal containers have this further advantage that the cones are not aiected by climatic changes as they are when packed in paper or fibre containers but remain in perfect condition through all changes of weather and for long periods of time.

In another form of the invention, the tube or wrapper for each package of cones has inwardly extending fingers which are arranged and spaced so that they engage the cones below their largest (Cl. 20G-65) diameters and each cone thus rests on resilient supports.

In the accompanying drawing, I have illustrated one form of my invention wherein;

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one of the packages or tubes of cones.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the top end of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 shows the container filled with the packages of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view, partly in section, of the top end of a modified form of package.

In Fig. l, the package consists of a tube 5 made from corrugated cardboard or heavy paper or other resilient material which is rolled closely around a stick of cones 6, the corrugations intertting where the edges overlap as shown at 1 in Fig. 3. The wrapping is tight enough to sustain the weight of the cones and two or more elastic bands 8 are placed around the package to hold it in close engagement with the cones and resiliently support them.

'Ihe requisite number of these tube-packages is then placed in a can 9 which has side handles l 0, I l and a tight tting cover, which is not illustrated because its structure is well known to everyone.

The cones packaged in this manner may be cones with reinforced tops I2, as shown herein, and which are claimed in my co-pending application Ser. No. 5,373 led Feb. 7, 1935, or cones of any style and size. While I prefer to use bands 8 of elastic material because they are cheap and easy to apply, I have found it practicable to use cord, tape or other securing means in place of rubber bands and rely wholly on the resilience of the corrugated material to grip or embrace the cones tightly enough to sustain their weight. In some instances, the corrugated sheet may be glued along its overlapping edges so as to form a sealed tube which normally is slightly smaller in diameter than the tops of the cones. The tubes are slightly expanded when the stick of cones is inserted and then contract on the cones tightly enough to support their weight.

When the can containing the cones is received by the dealer, he will take oi the lid and remove one of the tubes or packages of cones and then replace the lid. He then takes oif the rubber bands, whereupon the stick of cones, 10 to 25 in number, will slide out of the loosened tube ready to be placed in the dispenser or other container near the counter where they will be iilled with cream. In this way onli7 one tube or stick of cones is removed at a time, the others remaining in the closed metal can where they are-protected and remain fresh and crisp until wanted.

In the form of my invention shown in Fig. 5, 5 the material of the tube I3 may be heavy corrugated paper as in Fig. 1 or plain paper or cardboard of light weight, and it may be a sealed tube, but preferably is held together by rubber bands, as in Fig. l. This -wrapper has a number of tongues or ngers I4 punched or cut from the material along three sides, and when the package is formed, these lingers are bent inward so as to engage under the tops of the cones andi support them, as clearly shown in this ligure. The fingers are resilient, of course, and in this style of package it need not be wrapped so tightly about the cones, nor need the rubber bands be so heavy, because the weight of the cones is sustained by the lingers Il. In practice'I have found three or four fingers most eflicient in supporting each cone, but a larger or smaller number may be used. I have also found it satisfactory to have supports for only a part of the cones, as, for example, one set of fingers M for every two, three, four, or more cones. The fingers need not be rectangular as I have shown them, but may be triangular or any other shape that will provide resilient supports for the cones.

While I have thus shown and described two forms that my invention may take, it will be apparent to those skilled in the packaging art that many other forms and modifications may be made and I claim all such that come within the scope of my claims. What I claim is:

l. A mercantile unit comprising a package of ice cream cones nested into a stack or stick of substantialy length, said stack being enclosed and gripped in an expansible and contractible substantially cylindrical wrapper longitudinally corrugated, the longitudinal edges of the wrapper of cylindrical form being so related to each other and the stack as to permit expansion and contraction of the Wrapper about the stack, the opposite end portions of the wrapper being encircled by a detachable elastic tensioning means to maintain a gripping engagement between the.

wrapper and the stack and allow the aforesaid expansion and contraction.

2. A mercantile unit comprising a package of ice cream cones nested into a stack or stick of substantial length, said stack being enclosed and gripped in an expansible and contractible tubular wrapper longitudinally corrugated, the longitudinal edges of the tubular wrapper being so related to each other and the stack as to permit expansion and contraction of the wrapper about the stack, and encircling detachable elastic tensioning means acting on the opposite end portions of the wrapper to maintain a gripping engagement between the Wrapper and the stack and to allow the aforesaid expansion and contraction.

3. A mercantile unit comprising a package of ice cream cones nested into a stack or stick of substantial length, said stack being enclosed and gripped in an ex'pansible and contractible substantially cylindrical wrapper longitudinally corrugated, the longitudinal edges of the wrapper being overlapped permitting intertting of the corrugations, and encircling detachable elastic tensioning means acting on the opposite end portions of the wrapper to maintain a gripping engagement between the wrapper and the stack. y

FRANCIS W. TURNBUIL. 

